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If bench pressing were a romantic relationship our status would be “It’s complicated”. I want to love it, but it doesn’t always love me back. Yet somedays the stars align and it feels smooth like butter and it’s puppy love all over again. Regardless of my personal qualms, the bench press is still a great lift for developing upper body …

When was the last time you spiced things up in the weight room? Lifting big, heavy weights sure is nice for the badonkadonk, but after a while, it gets a little stale. Once your workouts get dry and boring like a Cesar Salad without the dressing, you can say bu-bye to motivation and fitness gains. Enter….the Landmine. The Landmine is an excellent …

Some fitness pros prefer to call weaknesses in our kinetic chain as “weak links.” I prefer to call them “energy leaks” which occur through deficiencies in movement quality, tissue quality, structural integrity or programming, not just muscles. Energy leaks tend to evolve. At best, such leaks hold us back from optimal movement and performance. At worse, they create more energy leaks that lead …

Recently on Twitter the President threw a temper tantrum my good friend Tony Gentilcore commented that “easy lifting” is oftentimes the best kind of lifting there is for creating change. Easy" lifting is oftentimes GREAT strength training. Quit it with the (excessive) sets to failure and forced reps. Not missing reps matters — Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore1) March 12, 2017 Clients that …

For years, I dedicated 90% of my workouts to cardio. I ran 2-6 miles as early as 5:30am several times a week, and finished the day with an evening spin class. Even on days I focused on strength training, I still ended the workout with a run on the treadmill. Unlike most cardio bunnies, my aggressive cardio sessions were driven …

Remember those Build-A-Bear workshops at the mall? I used to hate walking past that store. It reflected all of my deepest fears: Annoying children, overbearing parents, and torn up pieces of toy bears scattered everywhere like a Pixar version of the movie Saw. Despite my utter disdain for that little shop of horrors, the Build-A-Bear business model was on to …

Recently I found myself unmotivated to finish my workout and missing the days when supersets and 9-mile runs on a Saturday morning were my idea of fun. Before you start judging me, know that I only get nostalgic like this when I run out of carbs and have to max out a lift on a super hot day. San Diego …

Riddle me this: How long until a strong lifter starts to break a sweat in a single Pilates session? Answer: Five minutes. Usually it starts around the introduction of the c-curl (a deep scoop of the abdominals that lifts the thoracic spine into flexion while stretching the back) and the Pilates hundred. Recently, I’ve taken a few [very accomplished] athletes …

Will all victims of perfectionism please stand up? Yes, I’m looking at you. As a recovering perfectionist, I can tell you that perfectionism is not a positive quality. It shrinks us, blocks us, and it makes us weak. Whatever our grade school teachers said about being a ‘perfect little girl’ (or boy) has unfortunately left us trapped in this endless …

Engineering a sleek and powerful physique will require quality time with the squat. Athlete or not, you can’t get away from this movement; it’s one of the fundamentals. My motto is “Do it well, do it often, and do it heavy” This wasn’t always the case. I used to loathe squats because they were uncomfortable, awkward and hard – even …